Re: Blank, nullable date column rejected by psql

Rich Shepard <rshepard@appl-ecosys.com> writes:
> In a .sql file to insert rows in this table psql has a problem when there's
> no value for the next_contact column:

> $ psql -f activities.sql -d bustrac 
> psql:activities.sql:6: ERROR:  invalid input syntax for type date: ""
> LINE 2: ...ise. Asked him to call.',''),

> Explicitly replacing the blank field ('') with null is accepted. Why is
> this?

An empty string is not a null.

(Oracle has done untold damage to the field by failing to make this
distinction ... but in theory, and in the SQL standard, and in Postgres,
they're not at all the same thing.)

            regards, tom lane